Journeying Home
by Eydie Munroe
Summary: Forced by food and energy shortages to stop at a planet called Frela, Janeway and Chakotay are abandoned in the deadly forests surrounding the capital by local government officials. Working together to find their way back to a beam-out point forces them to address everything that's been wrong between them of late. Written for VAMB's Secret Santa 2014 Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Journeying Home**  
by Eydie Munroe

_**Disclaimer:  
Yeah, yeah, they're not mine. They never were. There, I said it. **_

_**Author's Note:  
Written for VAMB's Secret Santa 2014 Challenge. Cara Mia's request was for a "Jc fic nc17 rating preferably with a plot. I love mysteries and intrigues, action and adventure. No whimpy characters please". Thanks to Hester for her stellar beta services – all other errors are my own.**_

* * *

_Chapter One_

For the first time in ages, Kathryn Janeway was alone.

It wasn't for a lack of trying. But an unusual string of Delta Quadrant challenges had meant that she'd been on constant duty for more than two weeks, jumping from crisis to crisis as she struggled to hold her ship and crew together. It hadn't been easy, and they'd had to shoot their way out of not one, but two hostile first contacts in as many weeks. She'd begun to despair that they might have finally met their match in this part of their journey, which irritated the captain more than she could articulate. They'd already faced the Borg and had not only lived to see another day – they had thrived. But these petty warmongers that Voyager seemed to be constantly running into now were almost more dangerous – killer bees whose stings might be small, but deadly in significant numbers.

Despite all this though, they appeared to have moved into a quiet area of space for the moment. No star systems for days' travel in any direction, and no obvious signs of it being anyone's territory. Janeway had finally been able to order the crew to stand down, to recuperate, and to make the repairs that they'd been desperately jury-rigging until they got a chance for uninterrupted work. Just that afternoon, she was finally able to rescind her previous order for all available hands to help Engineering keep up with Voyager's wounds, and leave it to B'Elanna's experts instead. Kathryn smiled when she remembered the look of relief on Torres' face during the staff meeting. While her chief engineer was always grateful for extra help during a crisis, the captain knew that having to double-check the work of those not normally assigned to her also added a lot of time to B'Elanna's already-packed days.

Janeway sighed as she flopped down on the edge of her bed, head hanging low as she simply stared at the carpet between her boots. _Simple pleasures,_ was her thought when she realized that she'd been aimlessly gazing there for more than a few minutes. _God knows there's far too few of those._ Deciding that it was time to indulge in another, she slipped off her boots and started to pull off her uniform in preparation for a bath.

The sound of the door chime really wasn't a surprise. After all, with the way things seemed to be going for her lately, Kathryn could rarely get into anything before something needed her attention. _This better be good._ "Come in," she called, carelessly dropping her jacket on the mattress.

Chakotay stepped into her darkened quarters, surprised when he didn't find her in the front room. "Captain?" He saw her enter from the bedroom, barefoot and reaching up to open the back of her shirt and reveal the tank underneath. "Am I interrupting you?"

"I was just about to have a bath," she said flatly, pulling the arms down over her wrists as she spoke.

"Want some company?"

She stopped short, gaping at him in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

Only then did Chakotay realize what he'd said. Chastising himself inwardly, he offered, "Just wanted to see if you were listening," to try and relieve the tension. He was tired, and obviously not thinking straight.

Kathryn looked at him for a moment but said nothing, instead gesturing for him to have a seat. "What can I do for you?" she asked, dropping the shirt on her armchair and picking up the comfortable throw slung over its back.

He watched as she wrapped it around herself like a shawl. "I just came from meeting with Neelix," he explained as she sat next to him. "He would like your permission to throw a party."

"When doesn't he want to throw a party?" Her eyes rolled before she could catch herself, and she knew right away that he had seen it. With a sigh, she continued. "What's his theme this time?"

Chakotay understood what she meant. They were both grateful for the Talaxian's upbeat attitude and handle on ship's morale, but sometimes his enthusiasm was more than either of them could really take. "It's a 'we've survived' party," he explained, knowing that his own thinking was probably mirroring hers right now. "Personally, I'm torn between encouraging the crew to let their hair down and reminding him that we need to rebuild our energy and food reserves before we can think about a celebration."

Kathryn nodded. "I've been feeling the same way." Seeing his raised eyebrows, she explained, "We all need a break, Chakotay, but I'm wary of letting our guard down just yet." She drew a deep breath, pulling the blanket tighter around her as she started to feel her eyes grow heavy. "Let's get him to hold off for the time being, until we can restock. For now, not having to work double and triple shifts will have to do."

"I'll let him know." He looked her over as she yawned behind her hand. She was pale and somewhat gaunt again, signs of stress and coffee-only meals that he was all too familiar with. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," she told him, not in the defiant way that she usually did, but with the air of someone who had been going through a rough stretch. "Exhausted, but alright." Settling back even further into the couch, she returned the favour. "What about you?"

"I'm alright," he said, unconsciously echoing her answer. "Nothing that a few days' worth of sleep won't cure."

Kathryn sympathized, but couldn't turn off the captain just yet. "What's the status of the repairs?" she asked, hoping that a turn back to business would shorten this visit so that she could get on with her bath. _But then again,_ she reconsidered as her the cushions molded to her back, _I'm pretty comfortable right here._

Internally, he shook his head, knowing that they wouldn't veer into personal territory for very long. They never did these days. "On schedule," he said, deciding to leave it lay, "though I just ordered B'Elanna to get some sleep – she was about halfway through her third shift when I found her buried in a Jeffries tube checking isolinear relays."

The captain frowned. "I thought Tom dragged her out of Engineering hours ago."

"He did, but apparently she snuck out again after he fell asleep."

Her head fell into her hand, fingers rubbing at the tension there. "I think we're going to have to have a talk with her about work-life balance."

Chakotay glanced back at her, hoping she was kidding. Kathryn Janeway was the last person in the galaxy to be preaching about having a life outside of duty shifts. But she was deadly serious, though her expression of concern was fading in fatigue. Turning away from her, he blew a breath out through his clenched jaw as he tried to formulate a response. "I think we need to set a better example in that regard," he finally said, wishing that she would take his advice. "There are too many people on this ship who are showing signs of burning out, and it's got a lot to do with them trying to keep up the pace set by the senior officers."

"Hmm…"

Annoyed at her lack of interest, he turned back, only to find that she was sound asleep. "Kathryn?" He reached over and gently shook her arm, but she didn't stir. The past few weeks had finally caught up with her, and his irritation dissolved as he saw that she was at last going to get some downtime.

He couldn't leave her sleeping sitting up though, or the stiffness she'd have on waking would completely undermine any rest. So as carefully as he could, he grasped her shoulders and slid her down onto her side, then picked up her legs and stretched them out along the couch. He slipped a small pillow under her head and readjusted the throw around her, noticing her snuggle down as soon as the blanket was under her chin.

Chakotay watched her for a while, taking advantage of a long, interrupted look at her. The stress lines in her face eased, her features taking on an innocent quality in slumber. It had been far too much time since he'd seen her like this and, if he was brutally honest with himself, it was the first time he'd allowed himself to be concerned about her in a while. Dedicating most of their time lately just to remaining alive, it had taken all his energy to hold everything together, keeping an eye on the crew and carrying out the captain's orders as they dealt with whatever crises were thrown at them. It seemed that his usual concern for her had become just another casualty of their journey.

What complicated matters was that he and Kathryn were still in the process of patching up their relationship after the Equinox, which had left a lot of hard feelings and short fuses in its wake. Rebuilding trust wasn't easy, and at first, it took monumental efforts just to speak to one another in a non-professional capacity. With his pushing ever so slightly, they had finally managed to move beyond polite, work-related conversation to something social just before their latest run of bad luck. It had been months now though, and they hadn't made as much progress as he would have liked. Chakotay wondered if his offer to join her in the bath just now, unpremeditated as it was, would help them nudge just a little bit further toward how they'd been before, or if it would set them back. _It always has to be so damned difficult,_ he thought.

She shifted in her sleep, pulling the edge of the throw even closer under her chin. Feeling like he was intruding on her privacy, Chakotay softly called for the computer to lower the lights, and took one last look at her before he left.

When she awoke several hours later, Kathryn was disoriented and in the dark. As her eyes adjusted to the starlight from the windows, she let out a sigh of relief when she discovered herself in her own quarters, but was puzzled that she was lying on the couch. Then she remembered that Chakotay had been there, and with a groan realized she must have fallen asleep on him. There used to be a time when the thought of him could keep her awake for hours, back when she realized that it was okay for her to fantasize about her first officer instead of her lost fiancé. But now, worrying about getting the ship through one more day had wiped her out, and she'd drifted off right in the middle of him speaking. She felt bad, but Kathryn knew it wasn't something she could have helped.

Still half-asleep and too tired to care, she could barely keep her eyes open as she made her way to the bed, collapsing on it without a thought to getting undressed. As she drifted off again, a fleeting memory of his offer to share her bath left a faint smile on her lips as sleep claimed her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two_

A few weeks passed, and while their relationship continued to repair itself, nothing was said between them about that night. Kathryn had wanted to apologize for falling asleep on him, but she found that the idea led her down a path she was not prepared to deal with. Apologies meant opening up, and to be frank, she was frightened to show him who her true self was these days.

When she was hunting Rudy Ransom, Chakotay had seen her anger and misguided determination, but he had no idea just how hurt and scared and ashamed she had been afterward. Her actions then had been the closest she'd ever come to completely losing herself, and it had taken every ounce of her resolve to keep from falling apart once she realized it. She'd certainly experienced her share of emotional turmoil over the years, but none that had made her question every single action and emotion like that one did. Without him to be able to talk to, she felt rudderless, adrift without the emotional anchor he provided.

The other thing that was getting in Kathryn's way was an uncharacteristic bout of insecurity. She had always projected a confidence in order to lead, and her skill at hiding personal concerns was unmatched. But now she was second-guessing every decision, where even a short time before, she'd never given those calls another thought.

Re-evaluating decisions in her downtime was becoming dangerously routine. Initially, Kathryn thought it just a result of high and prolonged stress, but this quiet area of space they were travelling through swept all of that away, leaving her with a great deal of free time in which to reflect on her actions of the past few months. The captain was beginning to worry if this problem was going to erode her ability to command, or worse, if it would result in Chakotay having to take command from her.

But she'd soldiered on, using the distance of command to repair her relationship with Chakotay on her own terms. It allowed her to talk only about the things she wanted to, refusing to allow him to see her vulnerabilities. She wasn't dealing with the problem, uncertainty and indecision becoming constant companions, and her efforts to appear friendly and approachable didn't come off as well as she would have liked. Everybody was walking on eggshells around her.

The peaceful area that had been their salvation was also now starting to pose problems as it stretched on endlessly. Supplies were becoming a concern. As they soon discovered, not a single planet Voyager ran across produced foods that any species on board could eat, and as a result, the captain was considering restricting rations and reducing mealtimes in the mess hall to twice a day. It certainly wouldn't be the first time, and it inevitably led to Neelix filling out meals with more of his seemingly endless supply of leola root.

"I know that look," Chakotay said quietly as he leaned across the console between their seats. When she looked over at him, he was wearing a small smile. "You're thinking about leola."

_How does he do that? _"I'm trying not to," she replied, the mere thought of excessive root enough to make her queasy. Deciding to try and deflect him a little, she said, "It's your fault, you know. You could have at least found something that was palatable."

He laughed, thinking back to that dark day early in their journey when he'd tasted the horrid tuber for the first time. "Believe me, if I could take it back, I would."

"Knowing our luck, we would have found something even worse." She became serious again. "Have you received an updated manifest from Neelix?"

"Just before I came on shift." He sorted through the padds that had been in his lap, waiting for him to summarize, and finding the right one, he handed it over. They both started reading, the sound of mundane ship's business fading out around them.

As she read through the cook's not-so-lengthy list, her heart started to sink. It was just as she feared – if they didn't restock soon, they would need to severely curtail all food, and distaste for leola root would be the least of their problems. They had about two weeks of fresh foodstuffs left, and while it would be supplemented by what they could grow in hydroponics, it wasn't nearly enough. The dried and preserved goods would last only three weeks beyond that, and then they would be left with Starfleet rations, which would give them another month. They'd been lucky in that they hadn't needed to resort to rations since first landing in the Delta Quadrant, but now it was starting to look like a distinct possibility. "Damn…"

Chakotay looked up, glancing around to see if anyone else had heard her breathy curse. "Captain?"

Her brow furrowed, she stood, announcing, "Tuvok, you have the bridge." Then with a glance at her first officer that told him to follow, she headed off into the ready room.

Her first impulse once inside was to head to the replicator for coffee, but she quickly tamped down on it. "We're going to have to initiate the rationing protocols, including replicators," she told Chakotay once the doors were closed, holding the padd out for him to take back. "With no foreseeable places to find food, we don't have much choice."

"I'll inform B'Elanna and Neelix right away," he replied as he scrolled through the list. Remembering the information from Torres' engineering report the day before, he asked, "What about energy reserves?"

She shook her head. "I don't think we need to tap into them just yet, but we should scale back usage by ten percent."

"I'll make the announcement." He looked up to find that she was leaning back against her desk, eyes shut as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "We'll find something, Kathryn," he said quietly.

Meeting his eyes, the captain appreciated his attempt at consolation. "Thanks." She watched him leave, then allowed herself a few moments of worry and self-pity for herself and her crew before ruthlessly pushing it away and heading back out onto the bridge.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three _

Another month passed, and still no opportunities for food appeared. People were beginning to compare this stretch to the Void, but at least here there were stars and systems to investigate. None of them were of any use though, and their food and energy shortages were about to be compounded by another empty stretch of space. The captain had charged Seven of Nine with finding any planet or anomaly that could help them, but so far, the head of Astrometrics was drawing a complete blank. It looked like their possibilities were thinning out, and there was no potential Eden coming up on sensors for the next eight hundred light years.

Their continued fruitless search was fraying everyone's nerves. Neelix was taking more than his fair share of abuse in the mess hall, though he did his best to keep up a brave face and boost morale. Chakotay was running ragged trying to settle disputes and counsel those who needed it. And without coffee, or even better-than-coffee substitute, Kathryn Janeway could teach classes in irrationality. Every setback, large or small, was cause for anger the likes of which the crew hadn't seen in quite a while, and their feelings about the captain were exacerbated by their own insecurities in their current situation. Her new temper meant a lot less tolerance of infractions, and as a result, Ensign Callahan was doing two days in the brig due to an ill-advised after-hours trip to the mess hall.

The bridge was a tense place, one that the senior staff would have given their left arm to be away from. Tom and Harry, who were rarely ever at odds, seemed to be doing everything in their power to irritate one another. B'Elanna was burying herself in her work to avoid being caught between her friend and her lover, which in turn was driving the Engineering staff crazy. Tuvok's eternal patience was being tested by the unending number of transgressions, to the point where even he was unable to quiet his mind for meditation at night. The Doctor and Seven were the only ones that seemed to be handling the situation with any sort of normality, using time without alien encounters to follow their own pursuits, and for the Doctor to continue Seven's social lessons between bouts of patching up those who had decided to alleviate the tension with their fists.

The worst though, by far, was the command team. Chakotay's well-known patience for dealing with Kathryn Janeway had reached its limit, and he didn't hold back in letting her know it. Kathryn herself was immediately defensive, feeling that he'd withdrawn his support and was now just serving as the contrary he'd once described himself to be. They'd clashed over a lot of things, but nothing more than Callahan's brig stint. He'd thought she was far too harsh on someone who had missed the evening meal, while she'd accused him of wanting to whitewash the incident, fearing that his negligence would eventually result in a full-blown mutiny. Kathryn once again felt the impulse to relieve her first officer of duty, but then was tempered a bit when she remembered how badly she'd felt after the last time. Instead, she assigned him to duty that would take him off the bridge for the rest of the day, which Chakotay was more than happy to accept.

He returned to the bridge the next day, sitting silently next to her as they worked. She was concentrating on trying to find ways to lessen the drain on their energy reserves, while Chakotay wrote his report on the latest mess hall problem, which had ended in a six-person brawl. The bridge was eerily quiet – even the beeps and chimes from the consoles seemed to be subdued. So when a proximity alert sounded at Ops, everybody jumped.

"Harry?" Janeway called, her heart speeding up a little in anticipation as she turned in her seat.

The ensign, who had nearly been falling asleep at his station, seemed to spring back to life, fingers flying to fine-tune the readouts. "I'm detecting a new star system two light years to port."

The captain glanced at Seven, who was standing behind her, then back to Kim. "It didn't show up before?"

Harry shook his head. "No, Captain, it just appeared on sensors." Checking the readings again, he added, "Six planets, three gas giants and what looks like an asteroid field immediately surrounding the star."

"Signs of life?"

"I'm seeing indications of inter-planetary infrastructure, though it isn't clear to what extent at this distance," Harry said. "Unable to tell if there are warp-capable vessels."

Chakotay turned to the former Borg. "Why didn't this system appear on the charts you created?"

Tapping into Ensign Kim's readings, she coolly said, "I do not know."

"We'll worry about that later," the captain brusquely cut them off. "Tom, alter course to take us closer so that we can get better readings."

Paris turned back to his console. "Aye, Captain."

The captain turned aft with a full head of steam. "Seven?"

Normally unflappable, Seven was hurriedly tapping into the console. "Astrometric sensors did _not _indicate any star systems for at least one hundred and eighty-six light years along our course," she defended.

Janeway growled. "Time to the system?" she called out, her eyes never leaving Seven.

"At warp six, thirty-three hours," Paris replied, refusing to move his eyes from his console.

"Increase to warp eight."

"Captain," Chakotay started to warn, "B'Elanna–"

"I know what she said!" she snapped, her eyes flashing at him. Then to Seven she ordered, "Seven, you and Harry recalibrate the astrometric sensors. Then start rescanning the area. God knows how many other systems you may have missed."

"Yes, Captain."

Turning on her heel, Janeway disappeared into the ready room, but had barely made it behind her desk before the door chimed. "Come in."

Chakotay stepped inside, ready to argue. "Is that it?"

The captain looked up. "What?"

"You've been dressing down people for a lot less than that lately," he pointed out. "But Seven of Nine is responsible for a major error, and she barely gets an instruction."

She fixed him with a hard look. "Are you accusing me of favoritism?"

"I'm not accusing. I'm telling." Leaning down to face her, hands on the desk, he continued. "I've seen you not only order Ensign Kim to completely strip and rebuild his station when Voyager's systems malfunctioned, but you've inspected his work yourself before letting him loose. With Seven, you barely batted an eyelash."

"I am as hard on her as I am on anybody else," Kathryn shot back. "Putting her in the brig isn't going to get the problem fixed."

"I'll tell that to Ensign Callahan."

Her expression could have frozen fire. "Are you finished?"

He softened just a bit. "Look, we've all been under a lot of strain. But you're causing issues with the crew because of your constant bad mood."

They glared at one another for a bit, neither willing to end the standoff. He wondered if he'd pushed too hard. But they couldn't keep going the way they were – the grumblings from below decks were only getting louder, putting him in a difficult position.

She was the first to back down, looking away as she slumped back into her chair. "Noted," she said softly, her jaw grinding as his words sank in.

"Captain…"

Janeway looked back at him. "You should get back to the bridge, Commander."

Knowing that he wasn't going to get any further, he capitulated. "Aye, Captain."

Chakotay left her alone, and the anger that she'd felt when he confronted her started to ebb. "Damn you…" she breathed, rubbing at her temple as a headache started to form. _Doesn't he understand the pressure I'm under?_ To her, it seemed like every time she dared show some emotion, he was telling her it was the wrong one. _Or at least when it doesn't suit his purpose._

Kathryn sighed, memories of their past conflicts coming flying to the surface. With the Borg, he'd had no qualms about countermanding her orders while she lay unconscious in Sickbay. With Ransom, he'd tried his damnedest to keep her from doing what she felt she needed to do to get through that crisis. Now she felt like he was countering her just for the hell of it. _Must be the lack of caffeine,_ she tried to reason with herself, though it sounded like a hollow argument. _He needs some down time,_ she tried again, which didn't sound much better than her first excuse. _Maybe I do too._

Deciding that perhaps she should spend some time on her own to calm down and hopefully not snap at anybody else for the next few hours, Kathryn delved into the readings from Ops to see what other information was there.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four_

_"Captain to the bridge."_

Chakotay's voice made Kathryn jump. There hadn't been many details available to her in the four hours since her first officer had returned to the bridge, and she'd asked Harry to initiate a number of scans to check for cloaking technologies, chronoton fluctuations…anything that might indicate that the star system had somehow been hidden or that Voyager's sensors had been blinded. But fatigue had gotten the better of her, and again she had been dozing, her chin ungracefully dropping from her hand when Chakotay woke her. She sat up like a shot, annoyed at not being able to stay alert. No caffeine and many nights of worry-fuelled insomnia had been an awful combination, and it was getting to her. Grateful for the distraction, she straightened her hair and her uniform before heading out onto the bridge.

"We're being approached by a pair of ships," Chakotay reported as she stepped up into the command centre.

"Weapons?"

"Comparable armaments," Tuvok replied from his station, "but not powered at this time."

Her lips pressed into a thin line. Comparable armaments meant they could have problems getting out if things went south, but the fact that they were unpowered meant they were willing to be friendly – or at least non-malevolent. "On screen."

The promised ships appeared on the viewer, dark green and dart-like, each approximately the size of Voyager. They slowed as they approached, and it only took a few seconds before her security chief announced, "We are being hailed."

The captain nodded, then turned to face their welcome party. The screen lit up with the image of a male and female pair, remarkably human-looking, though their hair was a bright shade of lavender and their noses flat and inverted, nostrils flaring up over their eyes. His hair was long and flowing over his shoulders, while hers had been closely cropped, and was slicked back from her forehead. Her head was adorned with a simple wire crown, which dipped down to her nose and appeared to hold a small, dangling object there. _"Greetings,"_ the woman announced. _"We are the Frela. I am Kitra Sal."_

"I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager."

_"What travels bring you to our territory?"_ the alien woman asked. _"We do not regularly receive visitors in this area."_

"We are travelling back to our home on the other side of the galaxy," Janeway said, giving her standard explanation. "We were unaware of your territory, and apologize if we have trespassed into your space."

_"No trespass has occurred,"_ Sal confirmed.

Feeling hopeful, Janeway smiled. "Would your government be open to negotiating with us?" she asked. "We are in need of supplies, and would like to discuss trade for them."

_"You will be welcome to meet with myself and the president,"_ she told them. _"Then we may determine whether you are supplementary to the cause. Follow us and do not deviate from our heading." _

"Understood." The screen winked off, replaced by the view of the ships as they turned around and headed back in the direction they came from.

"Friendly sort," Paris commented.

"It's better than the alternative." Janeway glanced at her first officer, who was holding his tongue, then made her decision. "Follow them home, Mister Paris."

"Aye, Captain."

She returned to her seat, crossing her legs as she picked up a padd to start making notes. "Tuvok, Harry, I want your preliminary reports in fifteen minutes." To Chakotay, she asked, "When can you have the updated manifest ready?"

He was already at work, going back and opening up the latest reports from the department heads. "Half an hour," he told her. "I've been updating it as we go along, so I just need to include the numbers from this past week."

"Good."


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Five_

On arrival in orbit around the nearest planet, also called Frela, Voyager was once again greeted by Kitra Sal, now introducing herself in the role of planetary ambassador. She was accompanied by a sharp, militaristic man she introduced as Tia Sal, president of Frela and its neighbouring world, Cosamia. When asked about their similar names, they explained that Frela and Cosamia's laws both required pair-bonded couples in their primary political roles, and that they only felt comfortable dealing with those in a similar structure. At the moment, Captain Janeway's preference would be to negotiate with Neelix or Tuvok or practically anybody else at her side, but in the course of his explanation, Tia pointed out that their ships also worked on the same principle, and so the only acceptable meeting participants would be she and her first officer.

The first non-negotiable point, even before they set foot on the planet, was that transport could only happen to designated points within Frela's major centres. Breaking this stipulation would be immediate cause for arrest and punishment, which Kathryn could easily guess the severity of, based on the martial tone of their communications. The other non-negotiable was that weapons were to be left on Voyager, again on threat of incarceration or worse. Tuvok's protest was swift, but the captain reminded him that they were so short on food and energy that she wasn't left with much choice. She and Chakotay beamed down to the presidential palace with only tricorders in hand, praying that this wasn't the one time that their luck ran out.

They arrived in the middle of the presidential palace, immediately struck by its bright stone structure and the colourful flags that were draped on any surface that could hold them. A large mass of individuals dressed in dark military uniforms streamed in all directions – it obviously was the hub of government activity.

"It will be hard to see them in this crowd," Chakotay commented as he scanned the area.

She had to take his word for it, finding herself much shorter than the average Frela. "They shouldn't have any problem seeing us," she replied, a comment on the fact that their red shoulders were standing out amongst a sea of deep blue uniforms.

"Captain Janeway."

Both turned to find the president and ambassador approaching, trailed by a gaggle of assistants. "Welcome to Frela," Tia greeted, raising his hands in a cross-chested salute.

"Thank you." She turned to indicate her companion. "This is my first officer, Commander Chakotay."

The president repeated the salute, then introduced the rest of his party. "Ambassador Sal you know. My assistant Grièv…" He indicated the shorter woman standing on his right, "and the rest of my administrative team, who are on their way to Building Service Headquarters." At his words, Grièv took the rest of the group and headed off into the throng, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us," the captain said.

"All can be discussed within the sanctuary of our offices," Tia told her. "Please, come." He headed back in the direction from which he came, moving at a quick pace that had Janeway almost jogging to keep up.

Falling in behind them, Sal told Chakotay, "We are surprised to have you here, but not unpleasantly so. It is refreshing to meet aliens who are not of our factions."

Chakotay, ever the anthropologist, leapt at the chance for more information about them. "Do you have many factions?"

"Two. Collectively we are the Frela, but our populace is comprised of Shornea and Pillicks." Out of the corner of his eye, Chakotay noticed what seemed like a grim expression cross Kitra's face, just for a moment before it returned to its previous neutral state.

The president led them all back to his offices, a spacious set of suites on the top floor that overlooked the entire city. The residing pair explained that the Pillicks and Shornea had been fighting a civil war for the past five years, and had achieved a resolution just a few months earlier. The Frela were now entering a state of rebuilding, and of re-establishing relationships between the two factions.

Negotiating for the badly-needed foodstuffs and minerals turned out to be surprisingly easy, with the Frela only asking for star charts of places that Voyager had previously visited. The catch, however, was in allowing shore leave. Because of the planet's post-war state, Tia described his people as untrusting and dangerous; therefore, Voyager's crew would be restricted to a relatively small government green zone in which every Frela was thoroughly searched for weapons before they could enter. The presidential palace sat in the middle of the zone, which was why the Starfleet pair had not been allowed to come in with their side arms. There was also a very lengthy list of rules and regulations that Voyager's crew would have to be familiar with before transporting to the surface, and if anyone broke the rules for any reason, the deal would be off, and Voyager would be in much more dire straits than before.

To prove their point, the president and ambassador insisted on taking Janeway and Chakotay on a tour of the combat-ravaged city so that they could see firsthand what anyone who strayed from the green zone would be subject to. Because of its importance, President Tia was willing to personally take the Starfleet pair on the tour, accompanied by Grièv as soon as she returned. But as they were walking to his personal ground vehicle, another uniformed officer in a wheelchair quickly approached, hurriedly whispering in the president's ear. Tia bolted upright, then turned to face his guests. "I'm afraid that there is something I must attend to at once," he told them as he reached into his pocket for a communication device. "Ambassador Sal will meet you at the transport, and Meika here will escort you." Without another word, he turned on his heel, initiating a call as he quickly left.

His abruptness left the captain surprised and a little suspicious, but she quickly smoothed her features and turned to Meika, who was patiently waiting for them. "My apologies," the heavily scarred man said, his hand covering the stump where his leg used to be. "Follow me." He then spun around and started in the direction their party had originally been going in. Janeway and Chakotay glanced at one another, but said nothing as they followed.

Meika eventually led them into what looked like a large hangar, its entire floor and several mezzanines filled with a variety of different ground car types. He led them to one that was in a more heavily-guarded area, where Ambassador Sal was waiting for them along with her aide, Tremenka Detal. "It pleases me to take you on your tour of the capital," she greeted along with the traditional salute. "The president will be occupied for the rest of the day with another matter."

"Thank you, Ambassador," the captain replied. "I hope we aren't taking you away from your duties."

"My duty is to serve the president and the people," their host responded in what was obviously a rehearsed and automatic statement. "Come, let us begin." She gestured to Detal, who opened the door to the car for everyone before climbing into the driver's seat himself.

The tour took them through what had once been a remarkable city, but now was in a state of utter ruin. Kitra explained that it had been bombarded repeatedly throughout the war, but had been lucky to survive the orbital assaults that obliterated other cities entirely with forty percent of its infrastructure still intact. "We are in the process now of organizing how we will rebuild here," she told them as they passed. "It is a task that will take many years."

"What does the population do for food and shelter in the meantime?" Janeway asked.

"The government has annexed buildings which survived the bombardments to provide housing for those who need it," Kitra explained. "Anyone who cannot fit there is moved to emergency shelters erected in areas where debris has been cleared and the land deemed safe. It is a slow process, however, and a large number of citizens are still fending for themselves while they wait to be processed."

They continued to move through the few streets that had been cleared, the majority still blocked with fallen buildings and rubble. Large numbers of Frela were everywhere, many of whom looked to be recovering from significant injuries. Fires burned intermittently throughout, with groups huddled around to keep warm. For the humans, it brought up memories of the images they had both seen from the end of the Third World War. A sad thought struck the captain. "I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but is the food you promised us going to be taken from these people?" she asked carefully.

"No," the ambassador told her. "We believe in generosity, especially in light of the deprivation we caused ourselves in recent years. Currently the government provides everyone, even those living in these abhorrent conditions, with rations to keep them fed, and then anything additional is designated to others on a case-by-case basis. On one hand, we are fortunate that the lowered population has lessened our impact on food, but in turn, we must get our production facilities back into operation as soon as possible before those reserves run out."

"You had heavy losses?"

Sal gave a surprisingly human nod. "Two and a half billion, plus prisoners."

The hackles went up on Chakotay's neck. "And those prisoners were executed?"

Their host nodded again. "It is standard practice for all captured prisoners. Such actions prevent them from returning to war against us."

Chakotay looked to his captain as he felt his guts clench. These people appeared to be charitable to anyone who needed it, but it didn't take an empath to sense that something was amiss. He saw from the captain's expression that she was thinking the same thing, and his alertness level crept up a little higher as he turned to look out the window again.

The car started a gentle curve to the left onto a main but empty boulevard, pointing the windscreen directly into the sun. Kitra's demeanor quickly shifted from ambassadorial to commanding. "Detal, why are you deviating from our path?"

The driver was hurriedly punching at keys, trying a number of different combinations. "I've lost access to the steering controls," he told her, stress radiating in his voice.

As the vehicle moved away from the city's main centre, it began to pick up speed. "What's our new destination?" the ambassador questioned.

"I don't know!" Detal's movements were becoming desperate as he tried to access the navigation system, but he was locked out at every turn. On the screen, every time new information would come out, it would flash and black out in spots, making it impossible for him to see what was going on. "It looks as though somebody has gained access to the navigational controls. They're changing our destination remotely."

"Try and slow us down," Sal ordered.

But nothing worked. The car was still racing along at full speed when the doors suddenly locked and the windows shaded a dark grey, leaving the passengers with no option but to wait until the car reached its final destination. From their seats in the back, the Starfleet officers tried their communicators, and were rewarded with the exasperating sound of non-connection. Chakotay could easily see Kathryn's fidgety need to be in charge and finding solutions, and he couldn't blame her. Scanning the interior of the vehicle, he looked for stored weapons or any other means of circumventing whatever force had them. Nothing was in plain view though, and considering that they were carrying a high-level government official, he found it surprising. Without any options, he knew that they were going to have to ride it out and see where the rebellious ground car was taking them.

It was an uneasy forty minutes before they felt the vehicle start to slow, veering sharply to the right. "Any idea where we are?" the captain asked.

"I cannot say for certain," Sal replied, her forehead pressed to the window as she continued to try and see outside, "but there's a very good chance that we're outside the city."

From where she was sitting, Kathryn could see the ambassador's eyes frantically darting about in the reflection of the windshield. "Is that dangerous?" she questioned.

"Very." With no apparent end to their journey, the ambassador offered an explanation. "Our people evolved in the forests for millennia, but as we grew more advanced, we began to migrate toward living in cities. Forest living became only for those who could not afford an urban dwelling, until we were able to bring all the peoples into this lifestyle. The cities not only provided warmth and shelter, but also protection from the maladaks that hunted us. Today, we live in safety, while the maladaks rule the forests."

"Who are the maladaks?" Chakotay asked. "Another race?"

"No, Commander, they are large creatures who live in the treetops, waiting for any unfortunate that disturbs them from the silence of the winds. They decimated our population for centuries until we could build defenses against them. But we have been city-dwellers for hundreds of generations now, and rarely venture out of our own habitats, so our skill at avoiding their detection has eroded considerably. The only thing we are definitely sure of is that they hunt based on sound and echo-location."

The car again veered left, and sped up for a few minutes before slowing abruptly, followed by a long period of slow movement which was accompanied by strange scraping sounds along the outer surfaces. Janeway and Chakotay continued to search for something that they could defend themselves with, knowing it was futile but unable to give up. As the minutes wore on, the tension in the car skyrocketed. They finally stopped and the engine died, leaving them in complete silence. The ambassador looked at her aide. "Set it."

Detal, his hands shaking, leaned down to reach for something beneath the control console that Chakotay couldn't see from the back. In a few moments, he sat back up again. "Done."

The vehicle locks suddenly let go, and everyone knew instinctively that they were about to be dragged out. Before Sal could say another word, all four doors were ripped open by a large clutch of rough-looking Frela. Without preamble their leader, a hulking man with shockingly rose-coloured hair, stuck his head inside and looked around. Not finding what he was looking for, he snarled at Kitra, "Where is Tia?"

The ambassador rose to her full height. "Why have you brought us here?"

Later, Janeway would remark to herself about how universal being backhanded for giving the wrong answer was. "Where is Tia?" he screamed at her again. "He was supposed to be here!"

Chakotay's gut tightened again. Someone had tipped these people off as to their itinerary and the fact that the president was supposed to be leading their tour. He tensed when he saw another thug clamp a hand on Janeway's arm, but was distracted when someone else grabbed onto his own. "What do we do with these ones?" the one holding onto the captain questioned.

"Bring them." The man who had struck the ambassador turned away, leading them deeper into the forest.

With two men for every door of the transport, each person was roughly hauled out and dragged along to follow. A short, crude path had been cut through the trees, leading to a small clearing, just a few metres wide, in which a handful of tents and equipment resided. The four of them were shoved together in the centre of the open area, their escorts still holding onto them as they waited.

Their attention turned at the sound of one of the tent flaps being thrown back, and a man even more intimidating that the first lumbered into view. He made his way to them with a purposeful stride, and for the second time, the captain noticed something else that was universal – intense hatred.

"Kosnee..." Detal gasped, his voice shaking.

The new leader walked a slow circle around the entire group. When he reached his starting point again, he suddenly lashed out and cuffed the man who had struck Sal across the back of his head. "You said you were bringing me Tia!"

"He – he's supposed to be here!" the younger man stammered. "My sources confirmed it!"

Stalking up to the lone Frela female, he grasped her by the clothing on her chest and hauled her up so that her face met his. "Who are you?"

She was fighting to maintain calm. "I am Kitra Sal, ambassador to offworlders."

Kosnee released her suddenly, throwing her back into the arms of his men as his attention turned to the two uniformed humans. "That explains these two." He circled around them again, then addressed both together. "You are obviously not Frela."

Kathryn's spine straightened. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager," she announced in her best diplomat voice.

Their captor looked both her and Chakotay up and down, fully assessing them, and after some consideration, he seemed to show a slight bit of remorse. "Well Captain Kathryn Janeway, I'm afraid that you will not be returning to the Federation starship Voyager." He glanced at Sal. "And for that, I am sorry."

He walked back around again to face the ambassador. "Since the president was unable to be here today, you and your friends are going to serve as a warning instead." He drew a weapon from inside his jacket and held it between them.

"Surely there must be some agreement that can be reached?" Janeway tried.

Kosnee's eyes remained on Sal. "Well actually, Captain, one already has been reached." The men around him chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

The answer came when the ambassador stepped forward, turning to face the Starfleet officers as she moved to Kosnee's side. "We told you the truth, Captain Janeway, and my husband was indeed going to take you on this tour. But plans have changed, and I regret your involvement, accidental as it is."

Detal was gaping at her, struggling to find his voice. "You – you are in league with _him_?" he cried. "He was one of the biggest criminals in the war!"

"A war we had no business being in!" she shouted back at him. "But you were so busy trying to gain power that you did anything my husband said. You are responsible for more deaths than any of us, Detal."

"I was only following orders!" he protested.

Kosnee stepped up toward the smaller man, standing almost against him. "You were the one that signed the orders, Detal. You arranged the movements, the attacks, everything that destroyed what we held dear." His voice was climbing with each word, agony pouring out of him. "Tia may have given final approval, but you were the one who carried it out!" A faint cry could be heard in the brief silence that followed, but no one really picked up on it. Kosnee drew his disruptor, shoving its tip deep into Detal's midsection. "Your orders eliminated my family, and now I am going to send you to the hell from which you came."

The scream echoed through the trees as the beam pierced the smaller man's skin, answered in a sudden, sickening symphony as unseen wildlife seemed to respond. Kosnee's men started to panic, one of them leaping forward to clamp his hands over the dying man's mouth. Kathryn's eyes flew up to the treetops, which were now dark with dozens of large, bat-like creatures who were beating their wings, howling in fury. She tried to pull away from her minders, but fear made their grips even harder; they were all far too familiar with the sound that called out above them. Undeterred, Kosnee continued his assault, relishing Detal's cries of torment as he slowly carved his way up the man's body with a beam that smoked against his flesh.

What order things happened in next, Chakotay wouldn't be able to say. The creatures above them swelled into a frenzy at the sound of Detal's agonies, which were drowned out by the explosion that engulfed the ground car. It spewed shrapnel in all directions, easily reaching the clearing and taking down the nearest Frela. Then the group scattered when the maladaks attacked in droves, their claws and mouths snapping at anything that moved as they dove and swooped around the tiny clearing. Chakotay launched himself at Kathryn, grabbing her as he ran for the nearest cluster of trees. Whether it was sheer luck, or that the maladaks had no interest in humans, he didn't care, but they were left alone to run as the creatures concentrated on the locals. They ran until the shrieks and cries of terror faded, and to be safe he pulled them down into the brush, holding her close as they waited for silence to return.

She pulled away from him and sat up, straining to detect any other movement, but the forest was silent, save for the light breeze that disturbed the leaves. Releasing a shuddering breath, Kathryn looked at her companion. "Are you alright?"

He nodded, his eyes checking her over. "You?"

"I'm okay." Peering around her, she couldn't see any of the creatures that had attacked them in the trees above. Her hand naturally went to her waist for her tricorder, eyes flying down when she touched an empty pocket. "Oh no."

Chakotay checked his own belt as well, but his tricorder too was gone. "Must have fallen out while we were running," he muttered, checking the area around them on the off chance that it might have made it all the way to their hiding spot.

The sound of voices made them dive back to the ground again, hands slapping over communicators to try and stem the volume of the universal translator. "We've got to find them!" they heard Kitra Sal telling someone.

"That will take hours," Kosnee told her. "If we do this, it has to be now."

"But they're witnesses!" she protested.

"Keep your voice down."

There was a pause, presumably because they lowered their volume. The captain and commander held their breath and listened, but could only make out faint murmurings. Just as they thought the conversation had stopped, Kosnee's voice piped up one last time. "With no food or water, and not knowing where they are, they're as good as dead anyway."

Kathryn's eyes squeezed shut when she realized that they'd just been sentenced, victims of circumstance who simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her head snapped up at the sound of a small craft flying above the trees as it turned and followed a new heading, and after it was gone, the silence of the forest returned. Forcing herself into action, she got to her feet and began to examine the area they'd stopped in. It offered nothing of any consequence. Something she refused to identify as panic began to well in her as all the facts rolled through her mind – they were on an unfamiliar planet, lost in a vast forest with no food or water, with absolutely no idea how they were going to get back to civilization, and whether they'd even be welcome if they did reach it. Judging by what had just happened, it was entirely possible that everything Tia and Kitra had told them was a lie, and that they could very easily be executed for the mere act of returning alive.

Forcing herself to compartmentalize her worry, she looked to her companion, who was familiarizing himself with the trees. "We'd better find a way to get back to the city," she told him. "Do you think you can backtrack us to the site?"

He looked around, seeing the path that they had forced through the brush. "I think so, but there's no way of knowing what's waiting for us there."

"Agreed," she said. "But we already know that there is no road system out here, so it's a safe bet that the one that the car did follow is a rarity. If we can find it, it might lead us right back to the capital." A grim thought crossed her mind. "Besides, it's entirely possible that those creatures killed whoever wasn't in that shuttle when it left."

"That's a pretty big assumption."

Kathryn sighed, trying to hold onto what would have been an irrational outburst aimed at him. "If you have any better ideas, I'm willing to entertain them."

He thought for a moment. All the training he'd received over the years had taught him how to survive in strange alien landscapes, but how to find your way back from the middle of nowhere to somewhere hadn't been as important a part of the curriculum as how to find food or water. Starfleet always recommended, unless it was dangerous, to stay put until the ship could be contacted or a rescue team sent. Normally that would be sound advice, but with the inability to beam out, getting found was going to be very, very difficult. Finally, he shook his head. "Not right now, no." He then started to step back through the broken branches that had marked their flight from the clearing, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure she was following.

They walked for about an hour in near silence, with only the sound of their boots breaking twigs and crunching leaves filling the void. While relatively flat, the cluttered terrain was definitely a challenge, even with the damage they had previously caused. Suddenly he held up a hand to signal her to stop; they had reached the clearing. Crouching down for cover, they listened for any activity first, but it was silent. When they decided it was safe to move closer, they slowly picked their way through the brush until the trees started to thin again.

It was a scene of absolute carnage. The bodies that lay around the site had been ripped to shreds, with large portions of them missing. The maladaks had done a good job of feasting, and their leftovers were everywhere. Kathryn's hand flew to her mouth, desperate to hold the bile that was threatening to come up. It had been a long time since she'd seen anything so gruesome.

Concentrating on the equipment and the tents, it didn't take long to see that there was nothing left that would be any use. Everything was torn up, and what hadn't been by the creatures had apparently been destroyed by Kosnee and Tia before their departure. Disruptor burns scorched across much of the debris, including what had been water vessels, judging by the wet ground beneath them. "Damn…" she muttered.

Chakotay had stepped over to the remnants of the ground car to see if anything was salvageable. As he searched through it, it dawned on him that the self-destruct that Detal had set was designed not just to destroy the car, but inflict as much damage as possible, judging by the metal shards embedded in what was left of the foliage around it. He wondered just what sort of world they had stumbled across.

Concluding that there was nothing that was going to help them find their way back to the city, they gathered some larger remnants of tent fabric and a few sharp metal bits to provide them with makeshift weapons, and then headed into the tight tunnel that the ground car had cut through the forest when it was brought to this place.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six_

Chakotay would have thought that a large vehicle would have left an easier path for them to follow, but apparently Frela didn't follow that particular rule. Within a few minutes he was having trouble seeing whether they were actually on the 'road' or not, and spent a lot of his time clearing branches and prickled bushes out of the way. They'd been going for hours now, and both of them were overheating. They had tried removing their uniform jackets at one point, but the foliage instantly tore holes in the long sleeves of their shirts. Left with no choice, they had to keep the jackets on, and had wrapped their hands in bits of tent material to protect them.

Without conversation, each of them stewed in their own thoughts. Grumpy and beyond irritable, they didn't dare start talking for fear of it turning into an argument. Hot and thirsty, Kathryn was growing tired, and needed to take a break from the punishing pace Chakotay was setting in front of her. "Can you please slow down!" she finally ordered. He suddenly halted, and she nearly ran into his back. "I said slow down," she snapped, "not stop!"

"I don't really have a choice." He pointed forward to where the trees were thinning out.

She pushed past him to see what he was talking about, but took cautious steps as soon as she was in front of him. The forest thinned here for a very good reason. They were standing at the edge of a precipice that seemed to extend out as far as the eye could see, with a drop of about eight metres below. It looked like the remnants of a crater that the forest had overtaken a long time ago. "What happened to the road?" she wondered.

He wiped the sweat from his brow on his sleeve. "We must have missed the last turn the car took."

"Oh great. Now what do we do?"

Just the way she said it was enough to make him grumble. "I don't know."

While he caught his breath, Kathryn again searched the terrain, looking for anything that might be recognizable. Her eyes squinted, she eventually saw something. "There," she said, pointing to it, "that looks like a road."

Chakotay tried to follow where she was indicating. "I don't see anything."

"There." She drew the faint line in the distant tree canopy with her fingertip, which he then could make out.

"That's at least ten kilometres away," he guessed.

"But it's our best chance." She looked down the face of the drop as she considered their options, noting that the rocky surface seemed to provide a number of hand and foot holds. "I think we might be able to climb down this."

He shook his head. "It's too dangerous. There must be another way."

She looked in both directions again, but other than a few places where the rocks had tumbled down at some point, it was uniform and unending. "That could take hours," she argued. "We could be down this in about twenty minutes."

Chakotay couldn't believe that she was even suggesting it. "It will take a hell of a lot longer if I have to bundle your sorry ass out of the forest on my back because you fell and broke a leg," he growled.

Kathryn turned on him, hands on hips and eyes flashing. "We have to get to a beam-out point, or we're not going to get off this planet at all."

"The beam-out points aren't going anywhere."

Finally, she'd had enough. "This isn't an option. We're climbing down here."

So had he. "You want to kill yourself – fine. I'm finding another route."

Her expression turned tough. "You're out of line, Commander."

"Don't," he warned. "Don't you do that to me."

Her brow furrowed. "Do what?"

"Go all Captain Janeway on me. We're in a situation where you need to use your head, and you aren't. Finding our way back to the city isn't as important as surviving the trip in the first place."

"_Captain Janeway_ is giving you an order," she snapped at him, trying to use his taunt against him.

Chakotay pointed down the cliff face. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Stop acting like you need to babysit me!" She was shocked when he stalked off along the ridge, muttering something under his breath that she didn't quite catch. "What?"

His patience was at its end, and he whirled on her, pointing a finger squarely at her. "I said I wouldn't have to if you didn't insist on taking such stupid risks."

She knocked his hand away from her. "Just because you don't agree with them does _not_ make them stupid risks!"

"You've been lucky!" he shot back, the finger jabbing at her again. "You're a dangerous woman, Kathryn, and I don't want to be around you when your luck runs out."

"If I'm so dangerous, then why do you insist on getting in my way?" she charged. "All you seem to do lately is tell me how wrong everything I do is."

His hands ran through his hair in frustration. "Because you've been nothing but a petty tyrant the last two months. We're all sick of it!"

She snorted. "You act like you want me to fall to pieces."

"Don't flatter yourself." He stalked away from her, but only made it a few steps before turning back to face her. "I just want you to be human. Is that so much to ask?"

If he'd made any process in cracking through her tough exterior, his last comment eliminated it. "I'll have you know that I'm just as human as you," she told him, venom dripping from her voice. "Though unlike some others, I can control it."

A wild screech above stopped their fight short, both looking up to spot previously unseen maladaks that were coming straight at them from the open skies above the crater, claws out like raptors as they prepared to attack.

"Come on!" He grabbed her hand and started running, moving so fast that she was having trouble keeping up.

Once again they plowed through the forest, looking for any sort of cover to hide in. This time, being human was no defense, and a few of the creatures managed to get close enough to swipe at them. In one swoop, the maladaks managed to separate the pair.

Kathryn continued to run, weaving amongst the trees as she tried to drive one of them into a trunk or find a spot too small for them to fly through. They were incredibly agile though, and seemed to have no problems with hairpin turns to follow her. With their home field advantage, she was desperate for a solution, but there seemed to be nothing helpful along her path as she felt the breath of wind from their wings behind her. Branches and bushes tore at her as she plowed through them, her lungs burning as she pushed herself even harder. Her ankles almost turned several times, high heels both a blessing and a curse as they dug in like cleats, but also stuck in the soft ground and slowed her down. One of the creatures got close enough to lift the hair off her collar, and she knew she needed to find a place to hide, fast.

A giant fallen tree trunk blocked her path, and she increased her speed in order to hurdle it. Just as she cleared it though, something grabbed her from below. She was slammed down into the dirt, and felt herself being rolled under a heavy object into a dark space. Kathryn started to fight, shout out against the hand covering her mouth when Chakotay hissed in her ear, "Quiet!"

It took her dazed head a moment, but she went slack, straining to listen for anything other than their laboured breathing. His hunch proved right, and while their superior hearing was their greatest asset in hunting, their poor eyesight and sense of smell meant that once again, Janeway and Chakotay had effectively fallen off the maladaks' radar. When he heard the cries of their hunters fading in the distance, his adrenaline ebbed, and he collapsed against her, forehead resting against the side of her neck.

They lay there together for a while, giving themselves time to make sure the coast was clear. But it also put them in a position that was the last place they had expected to be. Hands that had instinctively pushed against him still rested on his biceps, which she now found herself clutching in relief. He lifted his head to look at her, his fingers slipping away from where they still rested over her mouth. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered, licking her lips.

It suddenly dawned on him that he was lying on top of her. A sudden compulsion hit him, and he leaned down and kissed her. All thoughts of where they were and the danger they were in disappeared when he descended on her, and Kathryn felt nothing but his weight on her body and the taste of his lips. Her hands ran up over his shoulders, abruptly stopping when she felt something wet, and him gasp and pull away at the same time. "What the…"

His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and only now, as the adrenaline ebbed, did he start to feel the pain of a wound he hadn't even noticed. Through clenched teeth he admitted, "I thought they missed."

She pulled her hand back, able to see the darkness of blood on her fingertips in the dim light. "Let's see if it's safe to leave, and then I can take a look at this."

Easing himself off of her, Chakotay slid sideways on his belly until he could get a better view of the sky around them. Peering up into the air, he saw none of their attackers, and then checked to ensure none of them were lingering on the ground or behind the log that had sheltered them. Biting his lip to keep from groaning aloud, he inched forward until his back cleared the log, then moved up onto hands and knees to make room for her.

Kathryn quickly clambered out into the open, warily eyeing everything around them. When she was satisfied that they weren't going to be ambushed, she circled around behind her companion, immediately spying his torn uniform and the open gash that had been cut near the top of his left shoulder. Grimacing as she gently pulled the fabric back, she was relieved to see that the wound was already starting to clot. "This doesn't look too bad," she told him as she carefully picked bits of plant material away from it, "but I think we'd better cover it just to keep anything from getting into it."

He nodded, and accepted her help to remove his jacket. "Any ideas for a bandage?"

"Well, seeing as your shirt is already ruined, I think we can probably rip it up for strips," she said. His bigger shirt meant the strips could be longer, and she was going to need to get creative to keep them in place.

"And what about the dressing?" He felt her pull the fastenings at the back of his neck apart, wincing when the fabric grazed his injury.

The captain was silent as she folded the shirt and gently placed it down on his skin, a shiver running down her spine when he hissed. As she reached for his hand to get him to hold it in place, she tried to come up with an idea. Without anything in the way of supplies, they didn't have a whole lot to work with. Making a decision, she told him, "I guess you won't be the only one going topless."

He wasn't sure what he should say, though was shaken from his thoughts when he saw her toss her jacket down on the ground beside his. She stepped in front of him, and he watched as she searched the inner pockets of the jacket for the makeshift blade she'd brought from the camp. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

She looked up. "For what?"

His eyes narrowed a little. "Really?"

It was her nature to deflect when it came to anything personal, and this was no exception. But while it certainly hadn't been the fairy-tale setting she'd always envisioned her first kiss with him to be, she found that she wasn't regretting it. She still was mad at him though, and she wasn't ready to talk about that yet. "Give me your shirt," she told him as she moved behind him again.

His jaw clenched as he faced forward, dropping his hand as he felt her pick up the shirt and toss it down on top of her jacket. Silence filled the air, except for the rustle of her own shirt coming off and being cut into a few pieces that she folded into thick wads. He flinched again when she put pressure down on the wound, but bit down on his impulse to make any noise. Then it occurred to him. "Noise."

She looked around to see his face. "What?"

"Noise." He thought back to what the ambassador had said in the car. "Kitra said that they hunt based on echo-location. That they _wait for any unfortunate that disturbs them from the silence of the winds_." Working his way through it, he said, "They must see loud noise as a threat, or a mark for potential food."

Kathryn considered the idea. "That makes sense. Otherwise, why would they break off with us now?"

"Exactly. The second we went quiet, we fell off their radar."

She grabbed his hand and put it on the dressing again, and then, with the assistance of her 'knife', started to cut his shirt into long strips. He stared at her, seeing the bumps of her spine poking through the fabric of her tank top as she worked. It had been a long time since he saw her exposed in any way, and he couldn't help but take a look.

He managed to avert his eyes before she looked up again, and with great care, she lifted his left arm in order to slip a fabric strip underneath it. Her fingers were cool as they grazed his skin, her face a mask of concentration as she found the best position for the tie to stay in place. Taking another one, she then slipped it under his right arm, then joined it with another which she looped through the first one, and then tied it down snugly. "How's that feel?"

Chakotay gently moved his arms and shoulders. "It feels like it's going to stay in place, as long as we don't have to do any more running." She looked at him for a moment, then wrapped the blade in the tent material and tucked it into her belt. "Thank you, Kathryn."

She nodded, and reached for her jacket to put it back on. "Let's try and get back to the ridge, and then we'll see if we can find a safer way down."


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

They managed to locate the ridge again with little trouble, but it took more than three hours of walking before they came across a more gentle way down to the bottom than where they'd been before. Night was falling quickly, and the air turned quite cold. Fortunately, they stumbled across a small cave in the cliff wall that was big enough to hold them both comfortably, but so low that they could only sit up in it. Chakotay asked Kathryn to gather firewood while he looked for some suitable branches, and by the time she got back, he had managed to weave together a cover with the branches and bits of tent that they could jam into the entrance to the cave to hopefully keep some heat in and whatever creatures might roam the night out. It turned out that his luck in starting fires was much better on this planet, and before long they were warm enough that they could try to go to sleep.

While Chakotay dropped off rather quickly, Kathryn was not nearly as ready. It seemed that her streak of sleepless nights was not ending, and the time she lay there beside him, curled up and facing away, gave her mind ample opportunity to torment her yet again about everything – her bad decisions, her stress at not having had a vacation in years, and her latest fight with her first officer. The one that afternoon had been a doozy, much more personal than any one they'd had before. Those had been about her orders or her job performance; this one had been about who they were as people. _I just want you to be human_, played in her head again and again. _You take stupid risks. You've been lucky._

Unable to sleep, she finally gave up and went outside, carefully replacing the makeshift door behind her. The wind had kicked up since they'd gone inside, roaring through the trees and bending them at impossible angles. She stood and stretched her cramped muscles, then tugged her jacket a little tighter to close the bottom and keep the cold air from getting in so easily. Her eyes drifted up from the treetops to the starfield above, clear and brilliant with no lighting nearby to get in the way. She tried to find Voyager amongst the manufactured objects that floated there, but was only able to identify the orbital platform. Everything else just appeared as satellites that roamed across the sky.

Kathryn wondered if Voyager would be better off without her, and not for the first time either. She'd thought it in the void, and she certainly had thought about it after the Equinox was destroyed. All the activity of the day had given her something to concentrate on other than her doubts but now, in the silence of the night, they were back with a vengeance. Merged with Chakotay's angry words to her earlier, Kathryn was desperately trying not to take them to heart, and to remember that under it all, she was a good person who was living in an insane situation. But that was where her thoughts landed, and she hated herself – both for allowing him to get to her, and for allowing herself to make him feel that way in the first place.

_Is he so wrong?_ The idea jumped into her head without warning as she sat next to a tree trunk and pulled her knees close to her chest. _You do test him, time and time again, and ask for nothing less than total devotion._ She thought back to all those arguments in the ready room, where she'd pushed him until he acquiesced in order to keep the peace. And then she started to think about Mark, and realized that he had always done the exact same thing – said his piece, but then stood back and let her do whatever it was she'd needed to do. She'd always thought it was the philosopher in him, and that he really knew how to pick his battles. But then she realized that there wasn't much she'd ever compromised on. It's what made her a great starship captain, but it's also what made her a lousy partner.

And then on top of it all, she'd kissed her first officer. Or more accurately, Chakotay had kissed her and she hadn't objected. Kathryn tried to convince herself that it didn't mean anything – that it came from the high of having just cheated death. But her heart was a traitor, and refused to let her believe that was the only reason. _Of all the stupid things to do,_ she berated herself. _It's not going to solve a damned thing._

"What are you doing out here?"

His soft voice in the high wind still startled her, and she shivered as she felt him crawl out of the cave and kneel beside her. "Couldn't sleep," she mumbled, glancing at him for just a moment before her gaze returned to the shifting branches.

"Come back inside," he tried to coax her. "It's dangerous out here."

There was that word again. But this time, after hours of reviewing things, it hit ten times harder. "An appropriate place for a dangerous woman, don't you think?"

Chakotay sighed. Watching her for a moment, he saw all her classic signs of self-flagellation, and he instantly knew what it was about. "I'm sorry," he offered, resting his hand on her forearm. "I was angry."

"You had every right to be," she said, still not moving.

He sighed again. This was going to be harder than he had hoped. "Maybe," he told her, not wanting to lie, yet not wanting to start another fight, "but you have to know how much I respect you, Kathryn. You've kept us all alive where others would have failed years ago." Her head dropped a little, her focus now on the ground in front of her. "You've taken us farther than I ever could have."

Finally she looked at him, her eyes dark but sad. "I can't give up."

"I know that." His thumb started to unconsciously rub over the material of her sleeve. "I don't want you to."

Frowning, she asked, "Then what _do_ you want?"

Her question caught him by surprise. What did he want? He had thought about it so many times, usually in the nights he spent alone in his bed, unable to sleep for one reason or another. _You,_ was his first thought, but he didn't say it – they were in no place right now to bring up those old feelings again. _To end this journey,_ was the second, but there was only one resolution to that problem. Now that she'd forced the question, he couldn't nail it down to one thing. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "A lot of things…but none of them that I can do anything about."

Her eyes locked with his. "Sounds like a tough place to be in."

"It can be." They gazed at one another, realizing that this was another step taken on their road to rebuilding. "I try not to let it, but sometimes it's overwhelming."

"I'm sorry too," she told him softly. "I've been taking my worries out on you, and I shouldn't be."

Chakotay offered her his hand, which she took without hesitation. "So have I. We've got to find a way to live with each other without doing that."

She nodded. "We'll find it."

A roar from a new wind gust caught their attention, their eyes jumping up as the trees bent anew. In the distance, they could hear snapping branches, and they were vulnerable. "Come on," he said, tugging on her arm. "Let's go inside before something drops on us."

The idea of a house dropping on the wicked witch flashed through her mind, but she decided not to mention it. They were making tentative progress, and she didn't want to spoil it. Letting him guide her with his hand, she turned around and crawled back into their shelter ahead of him. Then he secured the makeshift door back in place, sealing out most of the wind and a lot of the noise.

Chakotay moved to settle in against the far wall, but saw that she hadn't moved. Now out of the cold, she started to shiver uncontrollably, her hands trembling in front of her. "Come here," he told her, reaching out and pulling her against him before she could argue. Her hands were freezing – she must have been sitting outside longer than he had guessed. Before she even realized what he was doing, he reached over and opened the front of her jacket, pushing it back off her shoulders and snatching it into his lap. About to protest, Kathryn stopped when she saw him also remove his own jacket. The similar designs, with their matching components, meant that the jackets were able to be joined like sleeping bags, and it would allow them to share body heat more efficiently.

Once they were joined, he reached over and wrapped Kathryn's jacket back around her shoulders, pulling her close as he flipped his own around his back. Pulling them down onto their sides, he rocked forward to let the edge of his jacket settle against his back, then rolled down to tuck it in behind him. Wrapping his leg around hers let him pull her even closer, then he took her hands and pressed them flat against his chest, covering them with one of his own. He drew an involuntary breath when her fingers touched his skin, and she immediately tried to pull them back. "I…"

"Shhh..." He strengthened his grip to hold her in place, his other arm curling around her back and pulling her closer. "Relax."

As the heat from his skin start to seep into her fingers, she indeed felt her muscles start to let go of their tension. After a few minutes the shivering subsided, and her eyes started to droop as her body warmed up. Kathryn looked up to find that he was watching her carefully, concerned that what he was doing might not be enough. "Thanks," she whispered, her head falling to rest on his shoulder.

"What have you been worrying about?"

Her head lifted again. "What?"

He pulled her a bit closer. "You said you've been taking your worries out on me. What have you been worrying about?"

Kathryn debated whether or not to tell him. Her pride wanted to maintain the status quo, but even she had to admit that it wasn't working for them. So with a great deal of effort, she took him up on his offer, and talked about everything that had been weighing down on her the last few months. She even found herself fighting back tears once or twice, though in the dark of the cave, he couldn't see them. He could hear them though, and Chakotay very well knew how bare she was laying herself before him.

When she stopped talking, he needed to say something. "Kathryn, I wish you would have told me this a long time ago, but I do understand why you haven't." Bracing himself, he suggested, "Maybe we need to meet for an hour or so every day, so we can start dealing with all this."

"You mean like a counselling session?"

"It could be. We could ask someone, maybe Tuvok, to be a neutral party. But I was thinking that we could start out just as friends talking…see if we can't make it work without outside help."

Kathryn thought about it for a moment. The idea definitely had its merits. "I like that idea."

He let go of a held breath, and smiled to himself. A small victory, and he was happy to take it. "Thank you." The chill seemed to have left her fingers. "Are you warm enough?"

She nodded, settling her head against his shoulder again. "I'm good now."

"Why don't you try and get some sleep."

Kathryn curled up in his warmth, grateful for his body heat. As she drifted off, she felt a lot better than she had a couple hours before, and yet she wondered why her relationship with this man had to be so damned complicated.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

The two of them fell asleep quickly, and though both woke up at various times throughout the night due to noise or the strange conditions or a blast of cold when the wind would pick up the door for just a moment, they managed to make it through until dawn. Kathryn was the first to awaken, her back stiff and her head hurting, but she was warm, and it was due to the man who held her. Drawing a deep breath, she noticed that they were both in need of washing, but she didn't pay it much mind – after all they had walked the majority of the day yesterday, run for their lives, hid from danger in a dank, dark pit formed by a fallen tree, and sheltered in what amounted to not much more than a ditch. Her body was telling her it was time to get moving, and as Kathryn's hands idly spread against his chest, she wondered how she was going to extricate herself without waking him.

It didn't matter; he was sleeping so lightly that the barest stretch was enough to wake him. Chakotay moaned as he was pulled from sleep, but was immediately aware of where they were and that she was in his arms. Looking down to find her gazing back at him, Chakotay smiled. "Morning."

"Morning." Her hands lifted with his chest as he drew the same deep breath she had a few minutes before. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great," he quipped. "This beats the bed in my quarters any day."

She smiled, but it faded as they lapsed into watching one another, not quite ready to leave the warmth of their little nest. Each started to speak at the same time, and they laughed at the awkwardness of it. "You go first," she suggested.

His face grew serious. "I hope that I wasn't out of line yesterday…when I kissed you. I don't know what came over me."

Kathryn noticed the words he'd used – not 'I'm sorry', not 'I didn't mean it'. Her thoughts about it from the day before came back again, and with time to reflect on it, she realized that it wasn't the great travesty that she'd always thought it might be. "I didn't expect it," she said carefully, "but it wasn't unwelcome."

He looked down at her in surprise. "Honestly?"

She nodded. "Truth is, I have wanted to kiss you for a long time. But I had a pretty good idea of where it might lead, and I wasn't ready for that."

Swallowing hard, he told her, "I had a feeling that was the case."

Now came the part she was hesitant to admit. "And…I didn't know if you felt that way about me anymore."

That, he could definitely understand. After all, things had gotten so bad that even he had wondered himself. Deciding to be honest, he told her, "It's waned from time to time, but it's always been there."

This time, Kathryn was the one that kissed him, a sweet and gentle contact that let him know that she understood. When she pulled back, she gave him a small smile. "We should probably get going."

Knowing that they would discuss this later on, he helped her sit up, and unzipped the jackets as quickly as he could so that she wouldn't lose too much body heat. She insisted on checking his shoulder before he put his on, and after removing the door, had enough light to see that it had stopped bleeding completely, but appeared red and angry under the bits of bandage that she was actually able to pull away from it. A good portion of the scab had dried into the fabric, however, and she left it alone. "It doesn't look too bad," she told him before describing how it looked to him.

"Well, all the more reason to get ourselves home," he said as she helped him into the jacket. "Let's go find that road."

Kathryn threw him a mock salute. "Aye, sir."


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

If Tuvok of Vulcan had been allowed to rage in anger, this would have been the time. He was getting stonewalled with every turn of the Frelan government's whim, and they were getting nowhere fast. _"I'm afraid that we have no idea where your captain and commander are,"_ the new ambassador, a woman named Tarqin informed him. _"They were unadvisedly taken out of the city by my predecessor."_

Voyager's current commander could see that Lieutenant Paris was about to open his mouth, so he intervened before the pilot could make things worse. "Explain."

Tarqin looked like she really would have loved to be doing anything else other than speaking to an emotionless being. She was stressed and pressed for time, but she reminded herself that patience was a huge part of her new job. _"Upon investigation, we discovered that the vehicle they were travelling in was destroyed, and anyone who happened to live through that was killed in a wildlife attack. I'm afraid that there were no survivors, and due to the damage caused, we cannot tell if your people were among them."_

Years ago, before they'd spent any time together, this sort of announcement would have caused immediate and deep grief in the humans on the bridge. Now, after having heard those words so many times and then not having them be true, the reaction of Voyager's senior staff was filled with skepticism, if not a reluctant belief. They needed proof before they could truly accept that the captain and commander were dead. Tuvok noticed this with some amount of satisfaction. "Ambassador, if that is the case, our funerary traditions dictate that we must retrieve their remains in order for proper burial. May we have your permission to transport to the surface to do so?"

_"You may, once we bring the bodies back to the capital, but we are having difficulties transporting them from so deep in the forest. It won't be until at least tomorrow."_

"And if they are not dead?"

She considered it for a moment. _"There is a slim chance. We will send word to our recovery teams so that they may keep watch for them. But be warned, Commander, the forests are vast and dangerous. Even if they did survive yesterday's events, there is no guarantee that they lasted through the night."_

"Would you allow us to send down our own search teams?" he tried.

_"I cannot permit that,"_ she replied sharply. _"The city and the forests are far too dangerous to be introducing more unfamiliar aliens. You will have to wait."_

Tuvok knew that this was also a distinct possibility. But this was more information than he'd gotten out of the new ambassador since her sudden takeover the day before. "Very well. I shall contact you again in two hours."

The ambassador cut the link without saying anything. Tuvok felt all eyes on him as he returned to the captain's chair, and knew the outburst was coming. He just didn't know from whom.

"Can't we do _something_?" It was Lieutenant Torres who said it for them all.

"We cannot go blindly charging into what is still a first contact situation, Lieutenant," he explained calmly. "There is a process to be followed. However, should the Frelan government prove to be unhelpful, I will consider it."

"And in the meantime, the captain and commander are at the mercy of the elements," Paris commented.

"Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay are resourceful individuals schooled in the art of survival," Tuvok pointed out, turning his calm expression on the helmsman. "If they are alive, then they will find a way to survive until they can be found."

* * *

It took a few hours, but by using the damp sides of the trees as a guide, Chakotay and Kathryn managed to find the road that she had spotted from the ridge. 'Road' was a generous word, more like an overgrown cart path which showed faint signs of having been travelled enough that the branches didn't completely encroach it. It was wide enough for them to walk side by side, free enough of debris on the ground that they could double their speed, and clear of low-hanging matter, so they didn't have to push their way through. It was a relief, and Kathryn had grinned like a fool when she laid eyes on it. After a short discussion, they decided to go left, hoping that it would take them to the city, but surmised that it would end up taking them to some sort of destination eventually.

Thirst was becoming an issue. They hadn't come across any sources of water, and the only thing they'd managed was a bit of dew that had clung to the leaves outside their cave, but its effect was long gone. Tired, hot and parched, Kathryn laid a hand on Chakotay's elbow to get him to stop. "I need a minute."

Concerned, he grasped her arm in return. "What's wrong?"

She leaned against a nearby tree. "Nothing. It's just the lack of water is getting to me."

Chakotay drew a deep breath as he joined her. "Me too."

They stood in silence, knowing that if they sat, getting back up would be that much harder. Kathryn closed her eyes as she rested her head back on the trunk, taking a few deep breaths. When her breathing returned to normal, something that sounded like moving liquid tickled at the edge of her senses, and she lifted her head. "I hear water."

He held his breath and listened. "Me too." Then his mouth spread into a playful grin. "Why don't we see if my luck foraging on planets has changed at all."

Laughing softly, they set through the bush until they came to a paradisiac sight. It was indeed water, a small river that spilled down a couple of metres of rock before pooling at the bottom in a large, oval pond and then eventually moving on down the slope. The sight was surrounded by the decaying remains of what looked like a number of sandstone buildings, their roofs long gone, bits of vegetation growing along their gritty surfaces and through their doors and windows. "Wow…" she gasped as she emerged from the brush beside him, her eyes wide at the sight.

"I thought I heard water," he said, looking down at her with a grin.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "I know, I heard you. I just wasn't expecting this."

The first thing they did was check out the buildings and the immediate area, confirming that they were indeed alone. Then the pair walked to the edge of the river, which was actually stone carved by millennia of erosion rather than a sand or dirt bank like they would have expected. On closer inspection, they could see stairs that had been carved down into the water, descending onto a large, round platform with what looked like benches and walls that were built up to just below the water level. "This is amazing," Chakotay breathed, lifting his eyes to examine the entire space again. "I wonder what used to be here." He knelt down and scooped a hand into the water, letting it rest in his hand for a moment before bringing his nose down and sniffing it. "Seems to be okay." Then he took a cautious sip, and a moment of bliss filled his features. "Tastes pretty good too."

Without a tricorder, they had no way of knowing for sure, but since they'd already been without water for a day, it was easy to take the chance. Kathryn slowly knelt down beside him and tried it herself, a bright smile lighting her face. "That's almost as good as coffee."

He chuckled. "And here, I thought that you had forgotten about that."

She shook her head. "It's hardwired into my brain at this point."

They both drank their fill, and since the site had obviously been abandoned for a very long time, decided to take a break before trying to get their bearings again. The water was temperate, warmed by the sun as it pooled at the shore, and she lazily ran her hand back and forth across the surface, smiling at the feeling of the moisture clinging to her fingers. "Seems a shame to waste such a great spot," she said softly.

Chakotay's head tilted as he watched her. "You're thinking of going in?"

"Mm hmm." She saw the look on his face. "I know. Seems like the last thing I would do on an away mission, right?"

"Something like that."

Kathryn sat down on the ground. "To my eyes, bathing is exactly what this area was designed for. And judging by the amount of overgrowth and dirt around here, it's a pretty safe bet that nobody has been here in decades, if not centuries. We can both use it to cool down, and it will make it a lot easier to clean up your shoulder if you're in there rather than trying to scoop water up onto it."

Now she'd surprised him. "You want me to join you?"

She grinned at him again. "Why not?"

Chakotay wondered whether it was a good idea. It could have been a religious site, or some lost part of Frelan history. At any other time, the archeologist in him would have screamed in protest. But he was tired, sore, filthy, and when he thought about it, the likelihood of it being any of those things was slim.

He watched dumbfounded as Kathryn stood up and started to strip off what was left of her uniform. The jacket, pants and tank were quickly shed, leaving her just in bra and panties as she slowly moved down onto the first step. Keeping an eye out for any sort of fish or predatory creatures, Kathryn walked down the half-dozen wide stairs until she could step out onto the rounded underwater platform. As she moved closer to the far wall, she felt the water disturbance behind her and grinned, knowing that he'd gotten over his surprise and had followed her in. She looked out over the wall, seeing a variety of different fish in the clear water.

Chakotay tried to stop staring at her back, the rest of her hidden beneath the water. Shaking his head, he instead moved in the opposite direction to examine the nearest wall. The water seemed to bubble and break over the top of the stacked stones, and he carefully reached out to touch its surface, finding a small, mesh-type screen that ran along it. "Well, that would explain why there's no fish in here," he said aloud.

Feeling a little safer, she decided to sit on one of the stone benches. The water enveloped her up to her chin, and it was heaven. "I'd love to make a copy of this for the holodeck," she told him.

He sat down beside her, reaching for the tie on his bandages. "We should probably wash these out while we've got the chance."

Kathryn helped him pull the fabric apart, keeping one hand on the bandage pack. It was definitely stuck, so after removing the strips, she gently pushed down on his good shoulder to get him to sink further below the surface. He drew a heavy breath as the water hit his wound, dull pain crawling through him again for the first time in a few hours, and he grabbed onto her arm until it passed. When it did, he opened his eyes again to find her hovering closely in front of him, one hand still holding the shirt and the other resting on his chest. "Okay?"

"Yeah." He looked into her eyes, sparkling and bright despite the grimy face. Reaching up to touch her cheek, he whispered, "I know it doesn't seem like it a lot of the time, but I do love you, Kathryn."

She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him, her hands coming up to run through his hair. She pulled back when they ran across clumps of mud that had dried there, and smiled at him. "I think you may need a bath."

Dropping his fingers to the filthy tips of her own hair, he brought them up for her to see. "I'm not the only one."

Kathryn laughed. "Well I didn't bring any soap, so we may have to get creative." She pushed away from him, falling backward until her whole body went under the surface. Water cascaded off her shoulders and breasts when she stood up again a few paces away, slicking the hair back from her face with her hands. The bra left nothing to his imagination, and he could feel himself start to stir at the sight of her tight nipples through the fabric. Sensing his eyes on her, Kathryn blushed when she realized what he was staring at, and with a shy look she sank back below the water, leaving only her head and hands above as she scrubbed and rinsed out the bandage strips that were still in her grasp.

"You don't have to hide from me, you know." He saw her look up at him with confused eyes. "Just because I appreciate your body doesn't mean I respect you any less."

Out of all the reasons she'd ever considered for not getting together with him, this one had never really occurred to her. She enjoyed the fact that he liked to look at her, especially since their flirting was safe and nothing was going to happen. Now though, he had watched her with such intensity that it made her squirm. It had been a long time since New Earth, and she'd grown accustomed to the armour of her uniform. "It's hard not to think that way," she admitted, turning her attention back to wringing out and then dunking the strips again and again.

Chakotay pushed himself off the bench, lowering himself even further down into the water as he started to move toward her. Once within reach, he stilled her hands. "Kathryn, stop." When she finally dared to meet his eyes, he wore a gentle smile. "I know that you've looked too." If she'd been blushing before, she was beet red now, and it made him laugh. "You have, haven't you?"

The smile she couldn't hide was a dead giveaway. "Back when Tom was running the resort program. I came in one day looking for Neelix, and you had fallen asleep in one of the deck chairs." Her eyes glinted. "Your swimsuit really didn't leave much to the imagination."

He reached up and ran the back of his finger along the bra strap that looped over her shoulder. "Neither does this."

His touch left tingles as it traveled down to the top of her breast, and she could see him fully concentrating on the contrast of her white skin against the dark grey material. Sensing that she was watching him, he looked right at her, and there was no mistaking his absolute desire for her. He kissed her, tentatively at first but then with a growing need, pulling her up against his body in a grip that was not going to brook any arguments. Luckily, she had none to give, and instead threw one arm around his neck, and the other around his back. His tongue danced with hers, desperate to taste her, his own hands roaming down her sides until he wrapped them around her waist.

When Kathryn came up for air, it took a moment for her brain to catch up to her body. The worry on his face stopped any other thoughts. "What?"

His chest still heaving, he echoed her question from the night before. "What do _you_ want, Kathryn?"

She stared at him, her thoughts in a whirl. On Voyager, she had kept such a tight rein on her want for him. Here though, her need to maintain that control was much, much weaker. If she was honest, it was tenuous even on the ship – it had just been easier to use her role as captain to resist a major change. Her hand came up to push back the hair that had fallen over his tattoo. "You," she whispered. "I want you."

Chakotay stopped breathing as he tried to process her words. Before they arrived at Frela, he'd despaired that he and Kathryn would never find a way to get along again. Now, she'd just said the words that he'd longed to hear since the first year they'd been together. "Are you sure?" he questioned. "This isn't something we can't undo." She didn't respond right away, and he continued. "And we can never let things between us get out of hand like we have been."

Her gaze fell down to the water between them. "I'm sorry about that."

"So am I." Taking her chin between his thumb and finger, he lifted her face so she'd look at him again. "But I think we can do it."

She cradled his cheek in her palm. "I really want that."

Chakotay pulled her close again, leaning down to pick up where they'd left off. When she felt his hands cup her ass, Kathryn wrapped her legs around his waist, moaning as her mound brushed against his burgeoning erection. He pulled back and checked the area around them to make sure that no maladaks or Frela had suddenly appeared in the last few minutes, and when he saw that the coast was clear, he lifted her and sat her on one of the stone steps that was even with the waterline. One hand grabbed her breast as he pressed his body against hers, planting his left leg on the floor beside the stairs to keep his weight off. His other thigh pressed between hers, and she moaned in delight, breathy and delicious against his lips.

He tweaked and palmed her nipple, but it was muted through the fabric. So she sat up enough to reach behind and unclasp her bra, tossing it back up the stairs to land near where the bandage strips had ended up. Chakotay bent down to take one breast into his mouth, suckling and flicking the peak with his tongue until he felt it harden. Kathryn's fingers buried into his hair, and her head fell back as her breath quickened. She would have loved nothing more than to vocally encourage him on, but that one small, rational part in the back of her mind held firm, and she made every effort to limit her volume. "Oh…" she gasped when she felt his fingers grasp at her underwear, her adrenaline jumping another notch as he started to tug them down.

He moved back so that she could close her legs enough to get the fabric down off them, then tossed the panties up next to her bra. Seeing her naked in front of him, panting and lips swollen, did more for him than anything he could have done on his own. He'd visualized seeing her like this more times than he could count, but nothing was as good as the real thing. "You're beautiful," he murmured, also aware of his volume.

"And you're overdressed." She reached down and tugged at his waistband, grinning with delight when she saw the tip of his member float up to the surface. Sitting up and taking him in her hand, she started to stroke him, grinning when she heard the groan that he held in by biting his lip. "Shh…" she soothed when she felt his hips buck a little.

"No." He quickly grabbed her wrists and pushed them away before he came right in her hands. "It's too much." Deciding to change tactics, he placed her arms behind her back, then leaned forward to kiss her again as his fingers worked their way down between her legs to cup her.

Kathryn froze as what was happening, and its full implications, hit her. Here they were – naked, in a compromising position, on a planet that had already tried to kill them twice. He was injured, and they were most likely the target of an active search by her crew to retrieve them. Kathryn Janeway realized in that moment that where she should have cared a great deal, she didn't. For once, everything fell into place for her, and she was able to quiet the demons and worries that had forced her to keep denying herself this.

He'd noticed, and he stopped to look at her. "You're thinking about the ship," he said sadly.

She nodded, hand darting down to hold his in place when she felt his touch start to leave her. "Yes, but not for the reason you think."

Now he was confused. "Then what?"

"Because…I'm really hoping that the gods will smile on us for once, and that nobody finds us for at least the next few minutes."

Worry turned to elation, and he kissed her deeply, his tongue delving against hers as he returned to his previous task. She reared upward as his fingers started to slide through her folds, gasping as her hands scrabbled to find purchase on the stones behind her. Her legs parted automatically at his touch, her head thrown back against another step as he brushed across her clit with his thumb. His free hand spread her open, and he slid two fingers inside her. Then he slowly started to pump them in and out of her, his other hand coming up to fondle her breast.

Kathryn's eyes squeezed shut, back arching off the stairs as he started to build her up. Above her, Chakotay alternated his attention between pleasuring her and keeping an eye on their surroundings. But then something occurred to him, almost missed as they got swept up in each other. "What if they find a way?"

Her head came back up when she felt his hands stop moving, and she found him staring at her with wide eyes. "What?"

It seemed absurd, with one hand pinching her nipple and the other buried deep in her sex, but he had to know. "What if someone found us right now?"

She was still panting, licking her lips as she tried to catch her breath. Even in her haze, she saw how serious he was. "It doesn't change anything," she told him.

Tension filled Chakotay's body. "You mean that?"

Kathryn reached around his neck and pulled herself up to give him the kiss of a lifetime, one that left both of them desperate for air when they broke. "Yes…I mean that."

His grin lit up his entire face, and he dove back down to taste her, his hands resuming their previous tasks. He didn't know how she was able to reach him, but he moaned when she grasped him again beneath the water, her gentle grip running from base to tip and back again. He doubled his efforts to keep her from distracting him, his fingers moving faster within her as he flicked her clit with his thumb. But between years of foreplay and minutes of exquisite touches, neither one of them could wait any longer. He smiled at her complaint when he withdrew, loving the anticipation in her eyes when he pulled her bottom even closer to the edge of the step, water splashing underneath her. "Ready?"

Her breath hitched when she felt him hot and hard against her. "Oh god, please…" And while it was meant for her lover, it was also a prayer to the universe that, for once, Tuvok's innate sense of timing would let them have this moment.

Both prayers were answered, and nothing disturbed them as he slowly pushed himself inside her. Chakotay was gradual and deliberate, drawing out this first meeting as long as possible. Her celibacy made his touch electrify her, and he felt her contracting around him immediately. Deciding to give her a moment, he encircled her shoulders and pulled her close, holding them chest to chest as he kissed her.

Kathryn's entire body was on fire, and the foreign sensation of his cock inside her was overloading her senses. She registered that he was kissing her, and the sounds of the forest started to creep into their world as she fell back from the brink of climax. Her eyes closed as her head fell back, and she sighed as she felt his mouth move down her neck and onto her shoulder. Before she knew it though, her respite was gone, and he started to slowly move within her.

"Oh, this is good…" he mumbled as he started to pick up his pace a little. Feeling her hands grip his ass, he went a little harder, satisfied when he heard her mewling in his ear. More than once he had to grab her and pull her tighter to him because his thrusting was pushing her back from the edge of the step. Her arms wrapped around his back to try and stay in place, but as he got quicker he also went deeper, and so she had no choice but to hold on as he started to pound into her.

Still mindful of their surroundings, even in the heat of passion, what wanted to be loud cries of ecstasy were bit down on and muffled, buried with mouths against skin as he continued to thrust into her. Her head fell back again as the fire started to uncoil in her belly, fingers digging into his skin as the orgasm started to build. "Oh god…"

He dropped his forehead to rest against hers, their combined breath filling the air between them. "I love you," he told her again, forcing himself to keep going.

She hummed against him, wanting to return the words but unable to as her climax burst through her, all sights and sounds around them gone as her body blissfully released. She was vaguely aware that he was still going, but only a few more moments until he too came, his body collapsing against hers. Kathryn pulled him close and kissed him, her hands rubbing along his spine as they both came down together. When she was able to breathe again, she finally got to tell him, "I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten_

After they bathed, got a bit more rest and took some time to dry off, they rebandaged Chakotay's shoulder before getting dressed again. To their delight, they found that the bits of tent they carried were waterproof, and they were able to twist one of them into a makeshift bag that held a small bit of water. "It's better than nothing," she had told him, holding it for him as he tied one of the extra fabric strips around its top.

Hand in hand they made their way back to the road, both wearing silly grins on their faces. "I can safely say that's the most fun I've ever had on an away mission," he said, giving her fingers a squeeze.

She laughed. "You're welcome."

They continued to trudge on through the better part of the day, occasionally seeing maladaks flying far overhead where they weren't a threat. The sky started to darken, and before long it was spitting rain. As the skies opened up into real rain, Kathryn glanced up. "I am going to be so glad to get back to Voyager," she said.

He shielded his eyes as he looked around for something that might serve as shelter. "I never thought I'd miss those sterile corridors."

"Sterile?" Kathryn huffed a laugh. "After six years of our crew, invading aliens and god knows how many explosions, sterile is the last thing they are."

Chakotay stopped to look at a potential dry spot when she tugged at his hand. "Listen!"

He perked up, straining to hear anything beyond the rustling leaves. Sure enough, there was a faint sort of mechanical sound just barely louder than the sound of rain on the ground. "What's that?"

* * *

The new president, a grizzled, white-haired woman with stooped shoulders and eyes that could melt duranium, waited in the main entry as a column of light coalesced and took form in front of her. "Commander Tuvok," she said in a stony voice that dared someone to interrupt her.

Quickly assessing his surroundings, Voyager's tactical officer stepped up to greet her. "President Sach, my thanks for this meeting."

She started to move to a small room off to the side of the large space, one that housed large banks of equipment in the walls and a pair of operators at their controls. "As you can see," she began, indicating to a number of red and white symbols on the largest screen, "while we have secured the city, there are still a number of escapees who we are tracking through the forests."

He examined the readouts. "And the whereabouts of the Captain and Commander?"

She faced him in a stance that instantly reminded him of Kathryn Janeway. "As I told you before, Commander, our first priority is the insurgents. Our teams are aware your people are out there, but we cannot send out a dedicated search party until we complete our missions."

* * *

They stood there silently for a few moments, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. It was impossible to tell, but the one thing they did know was getting louder, fast. "Whoever they are, I hope they're friendly," she worried aloud. "It might be our only chance to get back to civilization." Kathryn led him over to what she thought was the side of the road and waited, preparing to flag down whoever was coming.

A huge roar came over the crest of the hill behind them faster than they anticipated, nearly running them down as it flew by. Chakotay shoved Kathryn out of the way before diving after her, unable to keep from crying out as he landed heavily on his left arm, jarring his shoulder. He threw himself over her when he heard the all-too-familiar screech of maladaks, but the creatures were too busy following the vehicle to even notice they were there.

When everything was silent again, he rolled off her and onto his side as he tried to deal with the pain radiating from his wound. Kathryn reached out to him as she visually checked him over. "You hit your shoulder, didn't you?"

He nodded, then took a few deep breaths until he was ready to open his eyes again. The sight that greeted him made him start to laugh – the kind of laugh that a person never expects but can't control. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

When he was able to breathe again, Chakotay licked his lips as he laid his hand over the one she had on his arm. "You look like you've been to a spa," he managed to say, reaching over to wipe something off her cheek with his thumb.

Self-consciously touching her own face, Kathryn found thick globs of mud on her fingertips. When she hit the ground, she had landed on her front, and her face had been shoved into the dirt when he'd covered her body with his. Realizing what she must have looked like, she too started laughing. "Well, I guess I won't need to get any Frelan beauty treatments while we're here."

The sound of another car racing by made them duck again, though it and the chasing maladaks passed without incident. After things went quiet again, the pair sat up and looked around again. "It looks like we may have hit a main route," he said aloud, watching her wipe some of the mud from her face.

"Hopefully it means we're that much closer to civilization." Kathryn stood and offered him a hand. "With any luck, we'll be back on Voyager before you know it."

Letting her help him up, he flexed his arm to make sure he hadn't injured it as well. Then, still holding her hand, he stepped back onto the road.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven_

It was nearly nightfall when Kathryn finally admitted that they were going to be spending another night in the forest. She mentioned this to Chakotay, who suggested that they start examining the areas just off the road as they continued down it to look for anything that might serve as shelter. He knew that they wouldn't find another spot as suitable as the cave, but he hoped that there would be something he could build onto rather than having to construct a sort of lean-to from scratch. It had been raining for hours now, and the two of them were soaked through. It was going to be hard enough to stay warm through the night, especially since it was so wet that they would not likely find anything dry enough to burn.

In the twilight, it was getting harder and harder to see one another, so they made sure to meet back in the road every few minutes so as to not get lost. It was during one of those meetings that they heard another distant mechanical rumble. Dim flickers of light began to appear on the trees that marked the corner they had just come past, dancing as the vehicle bumped along over the terrain. Knowing that they would be hard to spot in their dark uniforms, Kathryn debated the merits of staying in the middle of the road where they could be seen versus the chance of being run down by something moving at high speed.

The ground vehicle was moving at a fairly fast speed, but the long, straight stretch of road after they turned the curve allowed them to spot the Starfleet officers in their way. As it slowed its approach, Kathryn could see that it was some sort of truck, with three soldiers riding standing up in the back, disruptor rifles at the ready. It halted a few metres away from them, and there was an eerie pause before another armed pair exited the cab at the front. One aimed his weapon at the captain and commander, wordlessly holding them in place, while the other scanned the skies above.

With no sign of any trailing maladaks, a third Frela, the tallest of them all, exited the vehicle with some sort of scanning device in his hand. He came up between the two guards, waving it at the unfamiliar figures before him. Checking his readings, he questioned, "Are you from Voyager?"

Chakotay, who had stepped in front of Kathryn when the vehicle came into sight, glanced back at her. "Yes. I'm Captain Janeway."

The soldier suddenly broke into a smile, and gestured for those with arms to lower them. "We have orders from President Sach to find you."

A vocal outburst came from the back of the truck, and in the dusk, they saw one of the guards there turn and hit whoever it was with the butt of his rifle. There was laughter from the other guards, including the man she was speaking to. "Who's "President Sach?" she asked, her body heavy with dread.

Now, the grin on the man's face was unmistakable. "There has been a change in government since you disappeared." He snapped a few orders to his guards, one of whom trotted back to the truck to retrieve a pair of blankets. Seeing the distrust in her eyes, he added, "The president has been in contact with your ship. She's passed along a message from a Lieutenant Tuvok, I believe. He said that he would 'have coffee waiting for you', whatever that means."

The two humans had been standing with such tension that the relief of that simple statement threatened to topple them. The guards were telling the truth, and they were about to go home. "I'm very glad to hear it," she said, a smile gracing her own face. "It's been a long time."

The soldier with the blankets gave one to each of them, and the head man, who introduced himself as Mitz, then led them back to the truck. Just before climbing into the back of the cab, Kathryn froze. There were a number of other Frela in the open box at the back, hands chained to bars that ran over their heads, and one of them looked a lot like a bloodied version of Tia Sal. His eyes locked onto hers for just a moment before he turned away. Feeling Chakotay's hand on her back, she then climbed up inside the cab and slid over to make room for him.

The guards offered them a hot drink named _choula_ as they started off again, then Mitz brought them up to date as they made their way back toward the capital. It turned out that Tia and Kitra's people, the Pillicks, were actually from Cosamia, and their invasion of Frela was what had started the war. They finally conquered the Shornea and established their government, but through a series of intelligence snafus, the Pillicks wrongfully believed that the resistance movement had been crushed when it had actually gone further underground in order to regroup.

The murder of Tremenka Detal had been only the beginning as the resistance made its last-ditch efforts, and their offensive claimed a large number of Pillick officials. The former ambassador had been killed in a firefight within the presidential palace, taken down by Tia's personal guards as she and Kosnee went after her escaping husband. The new Shornea government had sent sympathetic military groups out after the overthrown officials, and by the sound of it, Tia Sal's vehicle was the one that nearly ran down Janeway and Chakotay earlier that day.

Kathryn reached over and laid a hand over Chakotay's when the guards spoke of the Shornea resistance, wondering how he felt about it. He listened quietly, but laced her fingers with his to let her know he appreciated her support.

"What will happen to Tia Sal?" she asked after the Mitz confirmed that it was indeed the deposed president in the back of the truck.

The lead soldier turned deadly serious. "If he's lucky, he'll die in prison. But I don't believe he will ever be that lucky."


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter Twelve_

Tuvok confirmed the change in Frela's planetary government, and he'd found that once Sach took power, it became marginally easier to gain assistance in finding his commanding officers. He greeted them in the transporter room, taking note that though they appeared dishevelled and slightly battered, the pair didn't seem to be too bad off. "Welcome back."

The captain stepped down from the platform. "Report, Mister Tuvok."

"The new Frelan government has honored the agreements you made with President Tia prior to his demise," her security officer reported. "All foodstuffs and materials are now being transported aboard, and the government's offer of shore leave within the green zone is still in effect."

She shook her head. "After seeing what the rest of the planet is like, I think we'll be better off to cut our losses and grant the crew additional holodeck and recreational time instead. It will have to be enough until we find someplace a little less volatile."

Tuvok clasped his hands behind his back. "Understood."

"The commander and I are meeting with the president in two hours, once we've had a chance to clean up," she told him, "and after we break orbit, Chakotay and I will be taking the next three days off in order to recuperate. For now, I will leave the bridge in your capable hands."

"Aye, Captain."

Sensing Chakotay at her side, Kathryn led the way out into the corridor. They walked in silence until she heard him start to chuckle. "What?"

With a wink, he told her, "I was just wondering how not-sterile these corridors actually are."

Bursting with laughter, she shook her head as they continued to make their way toward Sickbay.

* * *

President Sach correctly guessed the captain's intention of safeguarding her people by passing up shore leave within the restricted zone. "I am not at all offended," the old woman told them. "To be honest, if I could take a vacation right now, it would be anywhere but here."

The captain couldn't help but agree. "I hope that rebuilding will be easier than you anticipate."

"Yes, we all do. But routing out the Pillicks and sending them back to Cosamia will help a great deal." She got up from the table in order to pour her guests another cup of choula. "I am truly sorry that you were caught up in such dramas, Captain, but I am glad to hear that you survived. It is quite rare for anyone to survive one maladak siege, never mind two." She turned to Chakotay. "And your wound is healed now?"

"It is."

Sach smiled as she set down the pitcher. "I am very glad to hear that as well."

"If I may," Chakotay began as the president returned to her seat. She indicated for him to continue, so he explained, "As we made our way out of the forest, the captain and I discovered a site that contained the remnants of buildings and a large, underwater stone seating area. I was wondering if you might know what that would be."

Their host's eyes seemed to light up. "You found a kercha!" she exclaimed joyfully.

Kathryn exchanged glances with Chakotay. "What is a kercha?"

Realizing her guests would have no idea, Sach explained, "Kerchas are ancient community centres, remnants from when the Frela still lived in the forests. People met there to eat and bathe, and sometimes mate, especially when the lovers were from different tribes. But because we no longer venture into the forests, and our historical records from that time were verbal, we no longer know their locations." She sat back in her chair, lifting her cup high to her face to inhale the choula's aroma in much the same way the captain smelled coffee. "You are very lucky indeed. I hope you were able to take some time to enjoy it before moving on."

They looked at one another again, and he was amused to see his lover's cheeks turning pink. "It was a very enlightening experience," he told Sach, hoping that Kathryn wouldn't snort in laughter.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter Thirteen_

_Captain's Log: Supplemental_

_ With our food supplies restocked and our energy shortages ended, we are moving on from Frela and have resumed our course for home. Seven of Nine reports that the recalibration of Astrometrics revealed that the sensor assembly we obtained on Kaluamat Prime was faulty, and that after repairs, she is detecting nearly two hundred percent more than on the readings taken before we discovered Frela. It looks like a number of them are uninhabited M-class worlds, so hopefully we can continue to rebuild our reserves as we move out of this area._

Kathryn turned off the recorder and leaned back in her chair, eyes wandering lazily around her quarters. As she had told Tuvok the previous day, both she and Chakotay were now on three days' rest, and for once, she was going to take full advantage of it. Her coffee cup was empty, so she got up to go to the replicator, groaning as her muscles protested. She ached all over, and not just from sex – this trip had involved more running, jumping, crashing and falling than she'd done in some time.

Standing in the middle of the room and inhaling its sent, Kathryn took her time to savour the first sip of a fresh mug of coffee. Remembering Sach doing the same thing, she chuckled. Another thing that was universal. But one thing that was not universal was her bathtub, and spending some time soaking in it sounded like a very good idea.

No sooner had the thought popped into her head, the door chime rang. Chuckling at the memory of the last time, she called out, "Come in."

Chakotay stepped through the doors, looking around until he spied her near the windows. "Tuvok's report on his dealings with both Frelan governments," he told her, offering her a padd.

"Anything I should know?" she asked as she took it from him.

"Nothing more than what he's already told us, really. He thinks that we just 'simply arrived at Frela at an inconvenient time in their history'."

Kathryn laughed at his passable recitation of Tuvok's conclusion. "Well, I guess there really isn't much more to it than that," she said as she put the padd down on the table. When she looked back at him, she saw that he was watching her with a guarded expression, and she had been expecting it. Setting her coffee down beside the padd, she said, "Chakotay, I want to tell you something."

He drew a breath to steady his nerves. "What's that?"

"I'm going to take a bath."

Kathryn waited for her words to sink in. He blinked, and his jaw dropped. "You what?"

She grinned. "I've come to the conclusion that I need to be spending a lot more time taking care of myself. And I do some of my best thinking in there."

Finding his voice again, he asked her, "Wha – what do you have to think about?"

Walking over to him, she ran her hand down his arm. "About how good making love to you was. And about how overdue it was." Taking his hands in hers, her voice was filled with meaning when she told him, "I can't promise I'll be the easiest person to live with, Chakotay. I'm set in my ways. But I'm willing to try."

Stunned again, he echoed, "Live with…?"

She nodded, her hands now snaking up to link together behind his neck. "If you want. Not right away of course, but eventually."

It takes a man a little while to process it when the thing he wants more than anything is suddenly his. Chakotay, who had almost given up hope, lit up when her words hit home. "Eventually," he whispered, his hands resting on her hips.

Kathryn stood on her toes and kissed him, fingertips swirling in the short hair on his nape. Then she extricated herself without a word, leaving him standing and staring at her as she headed toward the bedroom.

Trying not to give away his happiness completely, he managed to stifle giddy laughter long enough to ask, "Want some company?"

She turned back to him, a glint in her eye to go with her brilliant smile. "I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
